In Canzo, the burning of the Giubiana

On the last Thursday of January in Canzo, an ancient peasant tradition is revived: the Giubiana is burned! A noisy procession goes through the streets of the old village to accompany the old Giubiana to the court, where she will be judged and sentenced to be burned at the stake. In the procession, Devils, Witches, Eels, and then the Bear and the Hunter. The old woman's sacrifice represents a rite of passage from the old year to the new year. From the swirls of smoke rising from the stake, auspices of good or bad luck are drawn, and then the ancient rite ends in the best way possible: with a festive community banquet of risotto, luganiga, and mulled wine.